Passenger safety system

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a system and method for passenger safety. A sensing unit, remote device, and/or fob may interoperate to provide various alerts and other indications representative of aspects of a context environment proximate to a sensing unit. In this manner, passenger safety may be enhanced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/142,817, filed Jan. 6, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,453,361 issuing onSep. 27, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/382,947, filed Apr. 12, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,889,263issuing on Jan. 12, 2021, which claims the benefit of and priority toco-pending U.S. Prov. Pat. App. No. 62/663,170, filed on Apr. 26, 2018,the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a passenger safety systemfor improving safety of an individual secured in a seat.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.Frequently, individuals may be secured in a seat. For instance,passengers in a vehicle, or wheelchair, or other seat. Such individualsmay encounter risks associated with their securement in the seat. Thusthere exists a need for a passenger safety system as discussed herein.

SUMMARY

A passenger safety system is provided. In various aspects, variousfeatures include elements as disclosed herein.

A passenger safety system is provided. The system may include a sensingunit and a fob. The sensing unit may be configured to be installedproximate to a seat occupiable by a person. In various embodiments, thesensing unit is a part of a securement system for securing the person inthe seat. The fob may include a portable electronic device to providehuman readable indications corresponding to radio signals from thesensing unit received via a fob communication channel. In variousembodiments, the fob indicates at least one of a securement of a seatbelt associated with the sensing unit, a temperature proximate to thesensing unit, and a distance of the fob from the sensing unit inresponse to the radio signals.

The fob communication channel may be a Bluetooth connection. The fobcommunication channel may be a cellular connection. The sensing unit maybe a portion of a child safety seat. The sensing unit may beinterstitially connectable between a conjugate slot and tab of a seatbelt connection, the sensing unit configured to determine whether theconjugate slot and tab are both properly fastened to a housing of thesensing unit.

In various embodiments, the sensing unit is further configured foroperative communication with a remote device including a smart phone viaa remote device communication channel including a cellular connection.The remote device may indicate at least one of the securement of theseat belt associated with the sensing unit, the temperature proximate tothe sensing unit, and the distance of the remote device from the sensingunit.

Moreover, the fob may include a fob transceiver, a fob controller, and atransceiver power controller. The fob transceiver may be configured tosend and receive the radio signals to and from the sensing unit via thefob communication channel. The fob controller may be connected to thefob transceiver and configured to detect a loss of communication of thefob transceiver with the sensing unit. The transceiver power controllermay be configured to increase a transmitter power of the fob transceiverin response to the detected loss of communication of the fob transceiverwith the sensing unit, whereby the fob transceiver regains communicationwith the sensing unit. The fob controller may provide a human readableindication that the fob has exceeded a predetermined range from thesensing unit in response to the loss of communication.

The fob may include an indicator array. The indicatory array may includea battery indicator, an attachment indicator, a temperature indicator,and a fob range indicator. The battery indicator may be configured toprovide an indication of whether a battery of the fob is charged beyonda battery charge threshold. The attachment indicator may be configuredto provide an indication of whether one or more sensors of the sensingunit indicate the securement of a seat belt associated with the sensingunit. The temperature indicator may be configured to provide anindication of whether a temperature proximate to the sensing unit iswithin an acceptable range. The fob range indicator may be configured toprovide an indication of whether the fob has exceeded a predeterminedrange from the sensing unit.

The sensing unit may include a first attachment mechanism, a secondattachment mechanism, a housing, and an attachment mechanism sensorarray. The first attachment mechanism may be a first shoulder strap of achild safety seat. The second attachment mechanism may be a secondshoulder strap of a child safety seat. The housing may be selectivelyconnectable to the first attachment mechanism and the second attachmentmechanism and may have a release button configured to selectivelydisconnect the first attachment mechanism and the second attachmentmechanism from the housing. The attachment mechanism sensor array may bedisposed in the housing to determine whether the first attachmentmechanism is disconnected and to determine whether the second attachmentmechanism is disconnected.

The attachment mechanism sensor array may include Hall-Effect sensors todetermine whether the first attachment mechanism is disconnected and todetermine whether the second attachment mechanism is disconnected.

The sensing unit may include a temperature sensor. The sensing unit mayinclude fob proximity sensor, wherein the fob proximity sensor has aBluetooth transceiver configured to detect a loss of connection with aBluetooth transceiver of the fob. The sensing unit further may include asensing unit indicator array having LEDs selectably illuminable toindicate whether the first attachment mechanism is disconnected andwhether the second attachment mechanism is disconnected.

A sensing unit of a passenger safety system is provided The sensing unitmay include a first attachment mechanism, a second attachment mechanism,a housing, an attachment mechanism sensor array, and a radiotransmitter. The first attachment mechanism may include a first shoulderstrap of a child safety seat. The second attachment mechanism mayinclude a second shoulder strap of a child safety seat. The housing maybe selectively connectable to the first attachment mechanism and thesecond attachment mechanism and may have a release button configured toselectively disconnect the first attachment mechanism and the secondattachment mechanism from the housing. The attachment mechanism sensorarray may be disposed in the housing to determine whether the firstattachment mechanism is disconnected and to determine whether the secondattachment mechanism is disconnected. The radio transmitter may beconfigured to wirelessly communicate to at least one of a fob and asmartphone whether the first attachment mechanism is disconnected and towhether the second attachment mechanism is disconnected.

In various embodiments, the attachment mechanism sensor array includesHall-Effect sensors to determine whether the first attachment mechanismis disconnected and to determine whether the second attachment mechanismis disconnected. In various embodiments, the sensing unit furtherincludes a temperature sensor, and the radio transmitter is furtherconfigured to wirelessly communication to at least one of a fob and asmartphone whether a temperature proximate to the child safety seat iswithin a predetermined acceptable range.

Moreover, the sensing unit may include a sensing unit indicator arrayhaving LEDs selectably illuminable to indicate whether the firstattachment mechanism is disconnected and whether the second attachmentmechanism is disconnected.

A passenger safety system is provided. The passenger safety system mayinclude a sensing unit configured to be installed proximate to a seatoccupiable by a person, wherein the sensing unit is a part of asecurement system for securing the person in the seat via a seatbelt.The sensing unit may include an attachment mechanism sensor, atemperature sensor, and a radio transmitter. The attachment mechanismsensor may be disposed in the housing to determine whether the seatbeltis properly fastened to the housing of the sensing unit. The temperaturesensor may measure a temperature proximate to the sensing unit. Theradio transmitter may be configured for operative communication with aremote device such as a smart phone. The radio transmitter provides aradio transmission to the remote device including an indication of atleast one of the securement of the seat belt associated with the sensingunit, the temperature proximate to the sensing unit, and the distance ofthe sensing unit from the remote device.

In various embodiments, the attachment mechanism sensor is a Hall-Effectsensor to determine whether the seatbelt is properly fastened to thehousing of the sensing unit. In various embodiments, the sensing unit isinterstitially connectable between a conjugate slot and tab of a seatbelt connection, the sensing unit configured to determine whether theconjugate slot and tab are both properly fastened to the housing of thesensing unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to thefollowing brief description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numeralsrepresent like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a passenger safety system, in accordance withvarious embodiments;

FIG. 1B illustrates aspects of a fob of a passenger safety system, inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 1C illustrates aspects of a fob controller of the fob, inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 1D illustrates aspects of a sensing unit of the passenger safetysystem, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 1E illustrates aspects of a sensing unit controller of the sensingunit, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates one example embodiment of the sensing unit of thepassenger safety system in connection with implementation in a car seat;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of the fob of the passengersafety system, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a further example embodiment of a further sensingunit of the passenger safety system, in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates aspects of an example housing of the sensing unit, inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIGS. 6A-B illustrate aspects of an interior of an example housing ofthe sensing unit;

FIGS. 7A-B further illustrate aspects of an interior of an examplehousing of the sensing unit produced by additive manufacturing;

FIG. 8 depicts further aspects of the housing of the sensing unit;

FIGS. 9-10 depict aspects of an example embodiment of the fob of thepassenger safety system, in accordance with various embodiments; and

FIGS. 11-14 depict various views of a sensing unit in connection with achild safety seat, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is generally described in detail with referenceto embodiments illustrated in the drawings. However, other embodimentsmay be used and/or other changes may be made without departing from thespirit or scope of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodimentsdescribed in the detailed description are not meant to be limiting ofthe subject matter presented herein.

Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated inthe drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same.It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope ofthe invention is thereby intended. Alterations and further modificationsof the inventive features illustrated herein, and additionalapplications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein,which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and havingpossession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope ofthe invention.

This disclosure generally relates to passenger safety in seats. Forinstance, a child, elderly person, or other passenger in a seat, such asa vehicle seat, wheelchair seat, or amusement park ride seat, or anyother seat may be subject to improper buckling, unbuckling, overheating,and/or being abandoned in the seat. The individual seated in the seatand aspects of the seat and surrounding environment, such astemperature, may be termed a “context environment.” Alert systems may beuseful to alert another person of various conditions detected withrespect to the context environment potentially needing amelioration. Thedisclosure further relates to seats outside of a car or other vehicle.For example, a child seat that is being carried, a stroller, a highchair, or other context environment.

With reference to FIG. 1A, a passenger safety system 2 may comprisevarious aspects as disclosed herein. For instance, a sensing unit 8 maybe installed proximate to a seat occupiable by a person. In variousinstances, the sensing unit 8 is a part of a securement system forsecuring a person in the seat, such as a seat belt. In variousinstances, the sensing unit 8 may be integrated into aspects of theseat, such as a child safety seat. For instance, a sensing unit 8 may bea part of the buckle and strap system to retain the child in the seat.In this manner, the sensing unit 8 may be implemented with respect tothe seat whether the seat is in a stroller, or a vehicle, or beingcarried and/or the like. In further instance, a sensing unit may beinterstitially connectable between conjugate buckling pieces of anextant safety belt. For instance, for an adult traveling in a vehiclewith onboard seat belts, an extant seat belt of the vehicle maybebuckled to the sensing unit 8, which may then be buckled to acorresponding receptacle of the vehicle into which the extant seat belttypically inserts and/or joins. In this manner, the sensing unit 8 maybe portably implemented without altering the extant vehicle systems.

The sensing unit 8 may be configured for operative communication with afob 4 via a fob communication channel 3. In various instances, the fob 4comprises a portable electronic device configured for carrying in apocket, or on a key chain, or mounted to a dash, or otherwise humanaccessible and human readable. The fob 4 may provide human readableindications corresponding to communication with the sensing unit 8 suchas to indicate the securement of the seat belt associated with thesensing unit 8, a temperature of the context environment 9 proximate tothe sensing unit 8, a distance or a threshold range being satisfied withrespect to the proximity of the sensing unit 8 to the fob 4, a remainingbattery life indication of a battery of the sensing unit 8 and/or fob 4,and/or an “all clear” indication indicating that the fob is sufficientlynear the sensing unit 8, the sensing unit 8 is properly secured, thetemperature of the context environment 9 is within a threshold, and abattery of the sensing unit 8 and/or fob 4 is adequately charged.

The sensing unit 8 may be configured for operative communication with aremote device 6 via a remote device communication channel 7. In variousinstances a remote device 6 comprises a smart phone, or cellular phone,or a browser session running on another device, and/or an applicationinstalled on a smart phone, cellular phone, or other device. In variousinstances, the remote device communication channel 7 may comprise atleast a portion of a cellular or Wi-Fi communication network. In variousinstances, the remote device 6 comprises a portable electronic deviceconfigured for carrying in a pocket, or on a key chain, or mounted to adash, or otherwise human accessible and human readable. The remotedevice 6 may provide human readable indications corresponding tocommunication with the sensing unit 8 such as to indicate the securementof the seat belt associated with the sensing unit 8, a temperature ofthe context environment 9 proximate to the sensing unit 8, a distance ora threshold range being satisfied with respect to the proximity of thesensing unit 8 to the remote device 6 and/or to the fob 4, a remainingbattery life indication of a battery of the sensing unit 8 and/or fob 4and/or remote device 6, and/or an “all clear” indication indicating thatthe fob 4 and/or remote device 6 is sufficiently near the sensing unit8, the sensing unit 8 is properly secured, the temperature of thecontext environment 9 is within a threshold, and a battery of thesensing unit 8 and/or fob 4 and/or remote device 6 is adequatelycharged.

In various embodiments, one or more of fob 4, sensing unit 8, and remotedevice 6 may provide further communications comprising indications to auser regarding a state of the sensing unit 8 and other aspects of thesystem and similarly, further communications comprising instructions oracknowledgements from a user regarding the state of the sensing unit 8and other aspects of the system or instructing a state change of thesensing unit 8 or other aspects to occur. For example, a providedcommunication may include an audible presence detection confirmationthat confirms via a sound that a child or other person is in a seathaving a sensing unit 8. A provided communication may include anindication that an action by a user is required to activate the system(e.g., start the sensing unit 8 monitoring the context environmentand/or presence of a child or other person). The fob, sensing unit 8,remote device 6 or other aspect of the system may provide this action toactivate the system (such as by a button press action). A providedcommunication may further include an indication acknowledging receipt ofthe action by the user to activate the system. Further providedcommunications may include a notification to a user reminding of theending of a trip, or an audible notification that a child or otherperson is present in the seat having the sensing unit 8 and should beremoved therefrom, such as at the end of the trip. Moreover, a providednotification may include an indication that an end-of-trip user actionis required, for instance, a button press action by a user confirmingthat a trip is concluded. A provided communication may include anindication that a child or other person has been left behind in a seathaving a sensing unit 8. Such an indication may be provided to furtherrecipients or multiple remote devices 6, such as by SMS or othermessaging technology. A provided communication may also include acommunication from the fob, sensing unit 8, remote device 6 or otheraspect of the system to cancel the indication that a child or otherperson has been left behind, such as to silence an alert after the childor other person has been removed from the seat, or further, a providedcommunication may include a communication from the sensing unit 8 to thefob or remote device 6 to cancel an alert that a child or other personhas been left behind, for instance, upon removal of the child or otherperson. A provided communication may include an indication correspondingto a temperature of a child or other person and/or an alert indicatingthat a child or other person has a fever. Finally, in variousembodiments, a provided communication may include an instruction tosnooze alerts or an indication that alerts may be pending but have beensnoozed. Thus one may appreciate that various one way communicationsand/or two way communications are contemplated. Provided communicationsmay be via the various claimed indicator arrays, via annunciators, viaphone call or text messaging systems, or any user interface mechanism asdesired.

With reference to FIG. 1A, 1B, and 3 , various aspects of an example fob4 are disclosed. A fob 4 may comprise a housing 12. A housing 12 maycomprise a resilient enclosure configured to retain and protectelectronics such as when placed in a user's pocket or otherwise asdiscussed herein. The fob 4 may also include a retention device 14. Theretention device 14 may comprise a flange defining an aperture, or achain, or any other mechanism whereby the retention device 14 may becoupled to a lanyard, keychain, grippably retained in hand, and/or thelike.

Within the housing 12, various further aspects may be disclosed, whichwill be discussed further herein. For example, the fob 4 may comprise afob transceiver 10 disposed within the housing 12. The fob transceiver10 may be configured to electronically communicate with a sensing unit8. For instance, the fob transceiver 10 may comprise a radio-frequencytransceiver, or may comprise an optical transceiver, or may comprise asonic, ultrasonic, or subsonic transceiver, or may comprise any furthercommunication mechanism as desired. The fob transceiver 10 mayinteroperate with a fob controller 24 and an indicator array 26 toreceive data from a sensing unit 8 representative of aspects of thesensing unit 8 and/or context environment 9 and display datarepresentative of such aspects for a user. Moreover, the fob transceiver10 may interoperate with the fob controller 24 to transmit and receivesignals with the sensing unit 8 to determine whether the fob 4 and thesensing unit 8 are within a predetermined range from one another. Forexample, a fob transceiver 10 may be in operative communication with thesensing unit 8. Upon a loss of operative communication, the fobcontroller 24 may determine that the fob 4 is beyond the predeterminedrange and may instruct an indicator array 26 to provide a correspondinghuman readable indication. Furthermore, the fob controller 24 mayinteroperate with a transceiver power controller 22 to increase a powerof a signal transmitted by the fob transceiver 10. In this manner, thefob transceiver 10 may regain operative communication with the sensingunit 8 and may transmit an indication that the fob has exceeded apredetermined range from the sensing unit 8 to the sensing unit 8 forthe sensing unit to further use such as for a local indicator to displaya similar corresponding indication that a predetermined range has beenexceeded. In further instances, the transceiver power controller 22 is aportion of the sensing unit 8 and the sensing unit effectuates anincrease in power following the loss of operative communication andtransmits an instruction to the fob 4 to indicate the exceeding thepredetermined range. In this manner, the power consumption andcomplexity of the fob 4 may be reduced.

The fob 4 may include a fob controller 24. The fob controller 24 maycomprise a processor and a memory operative to process data andinstructions in order to effectuate operative communication with ehsensing unit 8 and/or to effectuate display of human readableindications by an indicator array 26.

The fob 4 may include an indicator array 26. The indicator array 26 maycomprise one or more human readable indicator. In various instances, theindicator array may include visual indicators, such as LEDs, or hapticindicators, such as tactile feedback generators, for instance vibrators,motors, moving indicators, or may include aural indicators, such asbuzzers, speakers, piezoelectric indicators, and/or the like.

The indicator array 26 may comprise several indicators. For example, anindicator array 26 may conclude a first visual indicator 58-1, a secondvisual indicator 58-2, a third visual indicator 58-3, a fourth visualindicator 58-4, a fifth visual indicator 58-5 and any number N of visualindicators, such as a Nth visual indicator 58-n. In various instances, afirst visual indicator 58-1 comprise a battery indicator 104 configuredto provide an indicator of whether a battery of the fob 4 and/or sensingunit 8 is charged beyond a battery charge threshold, such as by changingcolor, illuminating, and/or the like. In various instances, a secondvisual indicator 58-2 comprise an attachment indicator 106 configured toprovide an indicator of whether one or more sensor of a sensing unit 8indicate that the sensing unit 8 is properly connected to a seat belt toretain an individual safely in a seat, such as by changing color,illuminating, and/or the like. In various instances, a third visualindicator 58-3 comprise a temperature indicator 108 configured toprovide an indicator of whether a temperature of a context environment 9proximate to a sensing unit 8 is within an acceptable range, such as bychanging color, illuminating, and/or the like. In various instances, afourth visual indicator 58- 4 comprise a fob range indicator 110configured to provide an indication of whether a fob 4 is within adistance less than a predetermined threshold from the sensing unit 8,such as by changing color, illuminating, and/or the like. In variousinstances, a fifth visual indicator 58-5 comprise an all clear 112configured to provide an indicator of whether the sensing unit 8 issafely operable with temperature of a context environment 9 proximate toa sensing unit 8 within an acceptable range and distance of a fob 4within less than a predetermined threshold from the sensing unit 8, andone or more sensor of the sensing unit 8 indicating the sensing unit 8is properly connected to the seat belt to retain the individual safelyin the seat, again, such as by changing color, illuminating, and/or thelike.

With reference now to FIG. 1C, the fob controller 24 is discussed infurther detail. In various embodiments the fob controller comprises oneor more modules operatively arranged to perform different functions.Each said module may be interconnected via a bus 54 and communicationamong the modules on the bus 54 directed by a bus controller 56. One mayappreciate that while in various instances, the modules, bus 54 and/orbus controller 56 comprise different sub-circuits, in further instancesone may appreciate that the modules, bus 54 and/or bus controller 56 maycomprise logical modules and/or a logical bus 54 and/or logical buscontroller 56 comprising logical aspects of the fob controller 24.

In various embodiments, the fob controller 24 comprises a fobtransceiver control module 44. The fob transceiver control module 44interoperates with other modules to direct the fob transceiver totransmit data from the bus 54, and/or distributes data received by thefob transceiver 10 onto the bus 54 for provision to aspects of the fobcontroller 24.

The fob controller 34 comprises a fob visual indication control module46. The fob visual indication control module 46 operatively communicateswith the indicator array 26 to provide human readable indications ofdata on the bus 54, such as provided by the fob controller 24.

The fob controller 24 comprises a data assembler 48. The data assembler48 structures and arranges data according to the parameters of atargeted recipient. For instance, the data assembler 48 structures datafor provision to the transceiver power controller 22 to instruct thetransceiver power controller 22 to control the power of the transceiverand further structures data for provision to the fob transceiver 10 fortransmission to a sensing unit 8.

The fob controller comprises a data disassembler 50. The datadisassembler 50 disassembles structured data on the bus into constituentparts for delivery to various target modules. For instance, the fobtransceiver 10 may receive structured data from the sensing unit 8 andthe data disassembler 50 may divide that data into portions for theindicator array 26 and portions for the fob controller 24, and portionsfor the fob transceiver 10 and/or transceiver power controller 22.

Finally, the fob controller 24 may comprise an I/O controller 52. TheI/O controller may be configured to interoperate with the fobtransceiver 10 to serve as a clearing house for all data intended fortransmission away from, or receipt into the fob 4. In this manner, dataintegrity may be maintained, such as by checking for malformed,malicious, and/or erroneous data. Moreover, the I/O controller 52 maycomprise encryption provisions, such as to secure data for transmission.

Having discussed in detail, various aspects of the fob 4, attention isdirected to the remote device 6. In various instances, a remote device 6may include a smartphone having an application thereon configured toperform one or more aspect of the fob 4. In various instances, theremote device 6 is further operable to configure the fob 4 and orsensing unit 8, such as associating a particular fob 4 with a particularsensing unit 8, and/or setting the different threshold values associatedwith the activation of aspects of the indicator array 26.

Directing attention now to FIGS. 1A, 1D, 1E, 2, 4, 5, 6A-8 , the sensingunit 8 of the passenger safety system 2 is now discussed in detail. Invarious embodiments, the sensing unit comprises an aspect of a car seat,such as an infant car seat, for example, a car seat buckle system. Infurther embodiments, the sensing unit 8 comprises an aspect of an adultseat buckle, for instance, an interstitial device insertable betweenconjugate slot and tab aspects of a seat belt latch, providing anattachment for each of the conjugate slot and tab aspects. The sensingunit may be configured to determine whether the conjugate slot and tabaspects are properly fastened, whether a battery has ample charge,whether a temperature is within an acceptable range, and/or whether afob 4 is within less than a predetermined distance from the sensing unit8.

In various embodiments, the sensing unit 8 comprises a first attachmentmechanism 16 and a second attachment mechanism 18. In variousembodiments, wherein the sensing unit 8 is a part of a child car seat,the first attachment mechanism 16 comprises a first child retentionstrap such as a first shoulder strap and the second attachment mechanism18 comprises a second child retention strap such as a second shoulderstrap. In further embodiments, wherein the sensing unit 8 is a deviceinterstitially installable between conjugate fastening features of anadult safety belt, the first attachment mechanism 16 may be configuredto connect to a first of the conjugate fastening features, for example,a seat belt tab, and the second attachment mechanism 18 may beconfigured to connect to a second of the conjugate fastening features,for example, a seat belt tab receptacle and selective release.

The sensing unit 8 may comprise a housing 20. A housing 20 may comprisea structural unit configure to provide durability and resiliency to thesensing unit 8 and in various instances, to provide support andenvironmental protection to electronics disposed therein. For example, ahousing 20 may comprise a first partial shell 21, a second partial shell23, and a release button 25. The first partial shell 21 and the secondpartial shell 23 may be joined together such as by screws, gluing,ultrasonic welding, and or the like, to complete a generally enclosedstructure with an interior void for receiving electronics. In variousinstances, the electronics are installed prior to the joining togetherof the first partial shell 21 and second partial shell 23. Moreover, thehousing 20 may comprise a release button 25. The release button 25 mayoperate the first attachment mechanism 16 and/or the second attachmentmechanism 18 to release all or part of a seat belt from a passengersafety system 2.

Further aspects of the sensing unit 8 are associated with the housing20. For example, the housing may comprise an attachment mechanism sensorarray 28. The attachment mechanism sensor array 28 may comprise one ormore sensor configured to determine whether at least one of a firstattachment mechanism 16 and/or a second attachment mechanism 18 issecured. For example, an attachment mechanism sensor array 28 mayinclude optical sensors to detect shadow or occlusion of light beam(s),may include electromagnetic sensors, such as Hall Effect sensors todetect the proximity of materials with certain electromagneticproperties, may include capacitive or inductive sensors, such as todetect a change in capacitance and/or inductances, and/or may include atransponder sensor, such as to detect the proximity of an RFID or othertransponder-type sensor component.

The attachment mechanism sensor array 28 may include, for example, afirst attachment sensor 68-1, a second attachment sensor 68-2, and/orany number N of attachment sensors, such as a Nth attachment sensor68-n. Each such attachment sensor may be associated with an attachmentmechanism. For instances, a first attachment sensor 68-1 may beassociated with a first attachment mechanism 16 and a second attachmentsensor 68-2 may be associated with a second attachment mechanism 18. Invarious embodiments, the first attachment sensor 68-1 comprises a firstHall Effect sensor 114-1, the second attachment sensor 68-2 comprises asecond Hall Effect sensor 114-2, and the Nth attachment sensor 68-ncomprises a Nth Hall Effect sensor 114-n, though any further combinationof sensors may be provided.

In various embodiments, the housing includes an environmental sensorarray 30. The environmental sensor array 30 may comprise one or moresensor configured to sense aspects of a context environment 9. Forexample, an environmental sensor array 30 may include a temperaturesensor 74. The temperature sensor 74 may detect a temperature present inthe context environment 9. In further instances, pressure sensors,humidity/moisture sensors, altimeters, velocity sensors, accelerometers,and/or other sensors may be provided within the environmental sensorarray 30 as desired.

In various embodiments, the housing includes an operating conditionssensor 40. For instance, the housing may include a power source 38, suchas one or more battery 98 to power the sensing unit 8. In furtherinstances, the power source 38 includes an external power source. Thus,there may be an operating conditions sensor 40 to evaluate variousoperative conditions of the sensing unit 8, such as the performance ofthe power source 38. In various instances, the operating conditionssensor 40 comprises a battery voltage sensor 100 configured to monitor avoltage of the battery 98 and provide an indication to a sensing unitcontroller 36 corresponding to the battery voltage and/or correspondingto an indication that the battery voltage falls below a threshold.

In various embodiments, the housing includes a fob proximity sensor 42.While in various instances, discussion has been directed herein tovarious transceivers and adjustment of the transmission of varioustransceivers as well as a detection of a loss of signal in order todetermine when a fob 4 and/or remote device 6 is outside predetermineddistance from the sensing unit 8, in further embodiments, a separatesensor is implemented to make such a detection. Moreover, in furtherembodiments, a similar power adjustment mechanism, as well as a similardetection of a loss of signal is implemented with the fob proximitysensor 42 rather than with the transceivers mentioned elsewhere herein.For example, in various embodiments a fob proximity sensor 42 isprovided. A fob proximity sensor 42 comprises any sensor whereby thephysical proximity of a fob 4 and/or remote device 8 may be ascertainedwith respect to the sensing device 8. For example, a fob proximitysensor 42 may comprise a Bluetooth fob transceiver 102 operativeaccording to a power adjustment mechanism and/or loss of signaldetection scheme consistent with that discussed elsewhere herein.

The housing 20 may also include a user-interface module 32. Auser-interface module 32 may include any human-interpretable aspectconfigured to communication information from the passenger safety system2 to a human via an indication emanating from the housing 20. Forexample, the user-interface module 32 may comprise an electronic devicein operative communication with other aspects discussed herein andstructured to display information to a user, such as by indicatorlights, a LCD or other screen device, aural annunciation, alarms, and/orthe like. In various instance, the user-interface module 32 includes asensing unit indicator array 76.

The sensing unit indicator array 76 may comprise one or more humanreadable indicator. In various instances, the indicator array mayinclude visual indicators, such as LEDs, or haptic indicators, such astactile feedback generators, for instance vibrators, motors, movingindicators, or may include aural indicators, such as buzzers, speakers,piezoelectric indicators, and/or the like.

The sensing unit indicator array 76 may comprise several indicators. Forexample, a sensing unit indicator array 76 may conclude a first sensingunit visual indicator 116-1, a second sensing unit visual indicator116-2, a third sensing unit visual indicator 116-3, a fourth sensingunit visual indicator 116-4, a fifth sensing unit visual indicator 116-5and any number N of visual indicators, such as a Nth sensing unit visualindicator 116-n. In various instances, a first sensing unit visualindicator 116-1 comprise a sensing unit battery indicator 118 configuredto provide an indicator of whether a battery of the fob 4 and/or sensingunit 8 is charged beyond a battery charge threshold, such as by changingcolor, illuminating, and/or the like. In various instances, a secondsensing unit visual indicator 116-2 comprise a sensing unit attachmentindicator 120 configured to provide an indicator of whether one or moresensor of a sensing unit 8 indicate that the sensing unit 8 is properlyconnected to a seat belt (for instance, via the first attachmentmechanism 16 and/or second attachment mechanism 18) to retain anindividual safely in a seat, such as by changing color, illuminating,and/or the like. In various instances, a third sensing unit visualindicator 116-3 comprises a sensing unit temperature indicator 122configured to provide an indicator of whether a temperature of a contextenvironment 9 proximate to a sensing unit 8 is within an acceptablerange, such as by changing color, illuminating, and/or the like. Invarious instances, a fourth sensing unit visual indicator 116-4comprises a sensing unit fob range indicator 124 configured to providean indication of whether a fob 4 is within a distance less than apredetermined threshold from the sensing unit 8, such as by changingcolor, illuminating, and/or the like. In various instances, a fifthsensing unit visual indicator 116-5 comprises a sensing unit all clear126 configured to provide an indicator of whether the sensing unit 8 issafely operable with temperature of a context environment 9 proximate toa sensing unit 8 within an acceptable range and distance of a fob 4within less than a predetermined threshold from the sensing unit 8, andone or more sensor of the sensing unit 8 indicating the sensing unit 8is properly connected to the seat belt to retain the individual safelyin the seat, again, such as by changing color, illuminating, and/or thelike.

The sensing unit housing 20 of the sensing unit 8 may also comprise asensing unit transceiver 34 within the sensing unit housing 20. Thesensing unit transceiver 34 may be configured to electronicallycommunicate with a fob 4 and/or a remote device 6. For instance, thesensing unit transceiver 34 may comprise a radio-frequency transceiver,or may comprise an optical transceiver, or may comprise a sonic,ultrasonic, or subsonic transceiver, or may comprise any furthercommunication mechanism as desired. The sensing unit transceiver 34 mayinteroperate with a sensing unit controller 36 and the user interfacemodule 32, as well as the environmental sensor array 30 and attachmentmechanism sensor array 29, operating conditions sensor 40 and fobproximity sensor 42 to send data to a fob 4 and/or remote device 6representative of aspects of the sensing unit 8 and/or contextenvironment 9 and display data representative of such aspects for auser. Moreover, the sensing unit transceiver 34 may interoperate thesensing unit controller 36 to transmit and receive signals with the fob4 to determine whether the fob 4 and the sensing unit 8 are within apredetermined range from one another. For example, a sensing unittransceiver 34 may be in operative communication with the fob 4 and/orremote device 6. Upon a loss of operative communication, the sensingunit controller 36 may determine that the fob 4 and/or remote device 6is beyond the predetermined range and may instruct the sensing unituser-interface module 32 (for instance, a sensing unit indicator array76) to provide a corresponding human readable indication. Furthermore,the sensing unit controller 36 may interoperate with a power controllerto increase a power of a signal transmitted by the sensing unittransceiver 34. In this manner, the sensing unit transceiver 34 mayregain operative communication with the fob 4 and/or remote device 6 andmay transmit an indication that the fob 4 and/or remote device 6 hasexceeded a predetermined range from the sensing unit 8 to the fob 4and/or remote device 6 for the fob 4 and/or remote device 6 to furtheruse such as for a local indicator to display a similar correspondingindication that a predetermined range has been exceeded.

The sensing unit 8 may include a sensing unit controller 36, asdescribed. The sensing unit controller 36 may comprise a processor and amemory operative to process data and instructions in order to effectuateoperative communication with the fob 4 and/or remote device 6 and/or toeffectuate display of human readable indications by a user interfacemodule 32 (for instance, a sensing unit indicator array 76).

With reference now to FIG. 1E, the sensing unit controller 36 isdiscussed in further detail. In various embodiments the sensing unitcontroller 36 comprises one or more modules operatively arranged toperform different functions. Each said module may be interconnected viaa sensing unit controller bus 94 and communication among the modules onthe sensing unit controller bus 94 directed by a sensing unit buscontroller 96. One may appreciate that while in various instances, themodules, sensing unit controller bus 94 and/or sensing unit buscontroller 96 comprise different sub-circuits, in further instances onemay appreciate that the modules, sensing unit controller bus 94 and/orsensing unit bus controller 96 may comprise logical modules and/or alogical sensing unit controller bus 94 and/or logical sensing unit buscontroller 96 comprising logical aspects of the sensing unit controller36.

In various embodiments, the sensing unit controller 36 comprises asensing unit communication module 78. The sensing unit communicationmodule 78 interoperates with other modules to direct the transmittingand sending of data from and to the sensing unit controller bus 94,and/or distribution of data received by the sensing unit transceiver 34onto the sensing unit controller bus 94 for provision to aspects of thesensing unit controller 36.

The sensing unit controller 36 comprises a sensing unit visualindication control module 86. The sensing unit visual indication controlmodule 86 operatively communicates with the user-interface module 32(such as the indicator array 76) to provide human readable indicationsof data on the sensing unit controller bus 94, such as provided by thesensing unit controller 36.

The sensing unit controller 36 comprises a sensing unit data assembler88. The sensing unit data assembler 88 structures and arranges dataaccording to the parameters of a targeted recipient. For instance, thesensing unit data assembler 88 structures data for provision to the fobproximity sensor 42 to instruct the fob proximity sensor 42 to controlthe power of radio transmissions from the Bluetooth fob transceiver 102and further structures data for provision to the sensing unittransceiver 34 for transmission to a fob 4.

The sensing unit controller 36 comprises a sensing unit datadisassembler 90. The sensing unit data disassembler 90 disassemblesstructured data on the sensing unit bus 94 into constituent parts fordelivery to various target modules. For instance, the sensing unittransceiver 34 may receive structured data from the fob 4 and thesensing unit data disassembler 90 may divide that data into portions forthe sensing unit indicator array 76 of the user-interface module 32 andportions for the sensing unit controller 36, and portions for the fobproximity sensor 42 and/or the like.

Furthermore, the sensing unit controller 36 may comprise a sensing unitI/O controller 92. The sensing unit I/O controller 92 may be configuredto interoperate with the sensing unit transceiver 34 to serve as aclearing house for all data intended for transmission away from, orreceipt into the sensing unit 8. In this manner, data integrity may bemaintained, such as by checking for malformed, malicious, and/orerroneous data. Moreover, the sensing unit I/O controller 92 maycomprise encryption provisions, such as to secure data for transmission.

The sensing unit controller 36 may also have modules specific to varioussensors. For example, the sensing unit controller 36 may have a fobproximity sensor control module 80 configured to provide instructionsto, and receive responses from the fob proximity sensor 42, such as withrespect to a power level setting. Moreover, the sensing unit controller36 may have a battery status determination module 82, such as tointeroperate with the operating conditions sensor 40 to query theoperating conditions sensor 40 and/or catch interrupts from theoperating conditions sensor 40 representative of a battery voltage andinstruct the operation of other modules and aspects of the sensing unit8 in response thereto, for instance, entry into a low power mode.Furthermore, the sensing unit controller 36 may have a temperaturedetermination module 84 which may interoperate with an environmentalsensor array 30, for instance a temperature sensor 74, to interpret dataand/or signals provided thereby and ascertain a temperature of a contextenvironment 9.

Finally, and with reference to FIGS. 1-14 , but particularly withreference to FIGS. 9-14 , various exemplary embodiments of both anexample sensing unit and an example fob are shown in connection with achild safety seat and a key chain, respectively.

As used herein, the term “network,” such as with respect to a networkwhich may comprise at least a portion of fob control channel 3 and/orremote device communication channel 9 provided in FIG. 1A, includes anycloud, cloud computing system or electronic communications system ormethod which incorporates hardware and/or software components.Communication among the parties may be accomplished through any suitablecommunication channels, such as, for example, a telephone network, anextranet, an intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point ofsale device, personal digital assistant (e.g., iPhone®, Palm Pilot®,Blackberry®), cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), online communications,satellite communications, off-line communications, wirelesscommunications, transponder communications, local area network (LAN),wide area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networked orlinked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication ordata input modality. Moreover, although the system is frequentlydescribed herein as being implemented with TCP/IP communicationsprotocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk,IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or anynumber of existing or future protocols. If the network is in the natureof a public network, such as the Internet, it may be advantageous topresume the network to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specificinformation related to the protocols, standards, and applicationsoftware utilized in connection with the Internet is generally known tothose skilled in the art and, as such, need not be detailed herein. See,for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY,MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997)and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002),the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

A network may be unsecure. Thus, communication over the network mayutilize data encryption. Encryption may be performed by way of any ofthe techniques now available in the art or which may becomeavailable—e.g., Twofish, RSA, El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI,GPG (GnuPG), and symmetric and asymmetric cryptosystems.

Any communication, transmission and/or channel discussed herein mayinclude any system or method for delivering content (e.g. data,information, metadata, etc.), and/or the content itself. The content maybe presented in any form or medium, and in various embodiments, thecontent may be delivered electronically and/or capable of beingpresented electronically. For example, a channel may comprise a websiteor device (e.g., Facebook, YouTube®, AppleTV®, Pandora®, xBox®, Sony®Playstation®), a uniform resource locator (“URL”), a document (e.g., aMicrosoft Word® document, a Microsoft Excel® document, an Adobe .pdfdocument, etc.), an “ebook,” an “emagazine,” an application ormicroapplication (as described herein), an SMS or other type of textmessage, an email, Facebook, twitter, MMS and/or other type ofcommunication technology. In various embodiments, a channel may behosted or provided by a data partner. In various embodiments, thedistribution channel may comprise at least one of a merchant website, asocial media website, affiliate or partner websites, an external vendor,a mobile device communication, social media network and/or locationbased service. Distribution channels may include at least one of amerchant website, a social media site, affiliate or partner websites, anexternal vendor, and a mobile device communication. Examples of socialmedia sites include Facebook®, Foursquare®, Twitter®, MySpace®,LinkedIn®, and the like. Examples of affiliate or partner websitesinclude American Express®, Visa®, Google®, and the like. Moreover,examples of mobile device communications include texting, email, andmobile applications for smartphones.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; utility company data;institution data; regulatory agency data; and/or like data useful in theoperation of the system. As those skilled in the art will appreciate,user computer may include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT®,Windows 95/98/2000®, Windows XP®, Windows Vista®, Windows 7®, OS2,UNIX®, Linux®, Solaris®, MacOS, etc.) as well as various conventionalsupport software and drivers typically associated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as determining or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, possible, or desirable inmost cases, in any of the operations described herein. Rather, theoperations may be machine operations not performable by mere humanactivity.

In fact, in various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward oneor more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionalitydescribed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors,such as processor. The processor is connected to a communicationinfrastructure (e.g., a communications bus, cross over bar, or network).Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplarycomputer system. After reading this description, it will become apparentto a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

Computer system also includes a main memory, such as for example randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drivereads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-knownmanner. Removable storage unit represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storagedrive. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

Computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datatransferred via communications interface are in the form of signalswhich may be electronic, electromagnetic, and optical or other signalscapable of being received by communications interface. These signals areprovided to communications interface via a communications path (e.g.,channel). This channel carries signals and may be implemented usingwire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, wireless and other communications channels.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs) are implemented. Implementation of thehardware state machine so as to perform the functions described hereinwill be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish Networks®, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-145.pdf(last visited March 2017), which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS),Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT webserver software, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in conjunctionwith a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and the Perl, PHP,and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address (123.56.789.234).The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the internet. Web services aretypically based on standards or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDLand UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, and arecovered in many standard texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES:A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, astandalone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form ofa processing apparatus executing code, an internet based embodiment, anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of theinternet, software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code means embodied in the storagemedium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized,including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storagedevices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a programmabledata processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus create means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks. These computer programinstructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that candirect a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus tofunction in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored inthe computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstruction means which implement the function specified in theflowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatusto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computeror other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implementedprocess such that the instructions which execute on the computer orother programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing thefunctions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those ofordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by referenceand are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, itis not necessary for a device or method to address each and everyproblem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to beencompassed by the present claims.

Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the presentdisclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited inthe claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. The steps in the foregoing embodiments may beperformed in any order. Words such as “then,” “next,” etc., are notintended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used toguide the reader through the description of the methods. Althoughprocess flow diagrams may describe the operations as a sequentialprocess, many of the operations can be performed in parallel orconcurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may berearranged. A process may correspond to a method, a function, aprocedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination may correspond to a return of thefunction to the calling function or the main function.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

Embodiments implemented in computer software may be implemented insoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguages, or the like, or any combination thereof. A code segment ormachine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, asubprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a softwarepackage, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures,or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another codesegment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information,data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments,parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via anysuitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing,network transmission, etc.

The actual software code or specialized control hardware used toimplement these systems and methods is not limiting of the invention.Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and methods weredescribed without reference to the specific software code beingunderstood that software and control hardware can be designed toimplement the systems and methods based on the description herein.

When implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable orprocessor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithmdisclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executable softwaremodule which may reside on a computer-readable or processor-readablestorage medium. A non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readablemedia includes both computer storage media and tangible storage mediathat facilitate transfer of a computer program from one place toanother. A non-transitory, processor-readable storage media may be anyavailable media that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such non-transitory, processor-readable media maycomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othertangible storage medium that may be used to store desired program codein the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessedby a computer or processor. Disk and disc, as used herein, includecompact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc(DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method oralgorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/orinstructions on a non-transitory, processor-readable medium and/orcomputer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computerprogram product.

The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and theprinciples and novel features disclosed herein.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed, other aspectsand embodiments are contemplated. The various aspects and embodimentsdisclosed are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to belimiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims.

1. A safety system comprising: a sensing unit, wherein the sensing unitis a part of a securement system; and a portable electronic device toprovide human readable indications corresponding to signals from thesensing unit, wherein the portable electronic device indicates at leastone of a presence of a person secured by a seat belt associated with thesensing unit and a distance of the portable electronic device from thesensing unit in response to the radio signals.
 2. The passenger safetysystem of claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device and thesensing unit are connected via a Bluetooth connection.
 3. The passengersafety system of claim 1, wherein the the portable electronic device andthe sensing unit are connected via a cellular connection.
 4. Thepassenger safety system of claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is aportion of a child safety seat.
 5. The passenger safety system of claim1, wherein the sensing unit is interstitially connectable between aconjugate slot and tab of a seat belt connection, the sensing unitconfigured to determine whether the conjugate slot and tab are bothproperly fastened to a housing of the sensing unit.
 6. The passengersafety system of claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is further configuredfor operative communication with a remote device comprising a smartphone via a remote device communication channel comprising a cellularconnection, and wherein the remote device indicates at least one of asecurement of a seat belt associated with the sensing unit, atemperature proximate to the sensing unit, and a distance of the remotedevice from the sensing unit.
 7. The passenger safety system of claim 1,wherein the sensing unit comprises: a first attachment mechanismcomprising a first shoulder strap of a child safety seat; a secondattachment mechanism comprising a second shoulder strap of a childsafety seat; a housing selectively connectable to the first attachmentmechanism and the second attachment mechanism and having a releasebutton configured to selectively disconnect the first attachmentmechanism and the second attachment mechanism from the housing; and anattachment mechanism sensor array disposed in the housing to determinewhether the first attachment mechanism is disconnected and to determinewhether the second attachment mechanism is disconnected.
 8. Thepassenger safety system of claim 7, wherein the attachment mechanismsensor array comprises Hall-Effect sensors to determine whether thefirst attachment mechanism is disconnected and to determine whether thesecond attachment mechanism is disconnected.
 9. The passenger safetysystem of claim 8, the sensing unit further comprising a temperaturesensor.
 10. The passenger safety system of claim 7, the sensing unitfurther comprising a sensing unit indicator array comprising LEDsselectably illuminable to indicate whether the first attachmentmechanism is disconnected and whether the second attachment mechanism isdisconnected.
 11. A fob of a safety system comprising: a portableelectronic device to provide human readable indications corresponding tosignals from a sensing unit, wherein the portable electronic deviceindicates at least one of a securement of a belt associated with thesensing unit, a temperature proximate to the sensing unit, and adistance of the portable electronic device from the sensing unit, inresponse to the radio signals, and wherein the portable electronicdevice comprises: a transceiver configured to send and receive the radiosignals to and from the sensing unit via a communication channel; atleast one visual indicator, the at least one visual indicator comprisingat least one of: a visual battery indicator configured to provide avisual indication of whether a battery of the portable electronic deviceis charged beyond a battery charge threshold; a visual attachmentindicator configured to provide a visual indication of whether one ormore sensors of the sensing unit indicate the securement of a beltassociated with the sensing unit; a visual temperature indicatorconfigured to provide a visual indication of whether a temperatureproximate to the sensing unit is within an acceptable range; and avisual range indicator configured to provide a visual indication ofwhether the portable electronic device has exceeded a predeterminedrange from the sensing unit.
 12. A sensing unit, wherein the sensingunit comprises: a housing connectable by a first attachment mechanism toa first strap and by a second attachment mechanism to a second strap,the housing having a release button configured to selectively disconnectat least one of the first attachment mechanism and the second attachmentmechanism from the housing; an attachment mechanism sensor arraydisposed in the housing to determine whether at least one of the firstattachment mechanism and the second attachment mechanism isdisconnected; and a radio transmitter configured to wirelesslycommunicate to at least one of a fob and a smartphone at least one ofwhether the first attachment mechanism is disconnected and whether thesecond attachment mechanism is disconnected.
 13. The sensing unitaccording to claim 12, wherein the first attachment mechanism is a firstbuckle portion of the first strap and wherein the second attachmentmechanism is a second buckle portion of a second strap.
 14. The sensingunit according to claim 13, wherein the first buckle portion and thesecond buckle portion are connectable together.
 15. The sensing unit ofclaim 14, wherein the attachment mechanism sensor array comprisesHall-Effect sensors to determine whether the first attachment mechanismis disconnected and to determine whether the second attachment mechanismis disconnected.
 16. The sensing unit of claim 15, the sensing unitfurther comprising a temperature sensor, and wherein the radiotransmitter is further configured to wirelessly communicate to at leastone of a fob and a smartphone whether a temperature is within apredetermined acceptable range.
 17. The sensing unit of the passengersafety system of claim 16, the sensing unit further comprising a sensingunit indicator array comprising LEDs selectably illuminable to indicatewhether the first attachment mechanism is disconnected and whether thesecond attachment mechanism is disconnected.